Condensation hysteresis

Is the Particle Life condensation transition first-order, or continuous?

How the lab tests it

Sweep the mean interaction μ up (the gas condenses) then back down (the condensate dissolves), reading the bound fraction on both branches.

a hysteresis loop — the condensate surviving below where it formed (Δμ>0 ⇒ first-order) — vs the two branches overlapping (continuous)

This is one world in the PHS lab — 91 interactive simulations, each posing a question and measuring the answer. See the catalogued findings.